


Feather Trigger

by Ononymous



Series: Christmas 2020 Stories and Requests [13]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Undertale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28614054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: In Snowdin, under Mount Ebott, Berdly isn't a kid. Well technically, he is, but he's so much more capable than grownups seem to think. He can handle difficult stuff. He can handle dangerous stuff. He's not stupid. A once in a generation encounter is his big opportunity to prove this. Or so he thinks.
Series: Christmas 2020 Stories and Requests [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074179
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Feather Trigger

"C'mon... c'mon..."

Blue wings flapped furiously, as Berdly held position a few feet from the cavern roof, carefully manoeuvring a yard or so forward at a time. His glasses, normally in a pocket during flight, were taped to his head so they wouldn't fall off. It allowed him to scan more of the roof faster, so he could find...

"Ah-ha!"

A fissure in the roof. Not very wide, but it was his only discovery after two hours of searching. If he was ever going to find a way out, this was it. He slowly approached it, found what looked like a good rock grip, and his wings grabbed them. He held on tight as his body dropped a little, but he was used to these improvised landings.

According to the clock at Snowdin Librarby, it should still be daytime outside. That meant the sun-thing was up. But as he pulled himself up, it was growing darker, yet darker. Maybe the fissure didn't lead to the surface of the mountain. Or maybe it bent a lot.

Unfortunately, as he gripped another rock deeper into the fissure and pulled himself up, his torso quickly felt the stone rub against it. The pressure increased, and soon he stopped his ascent completely. It was hard to make out in the gloom, but it didn't look like the fissure got any wider up ahead. He might be able to force himself up higher, but there was the risk he couldn't get back down. 

But maybe if he was really careful? He knew what parts of Waterfall it was safe to swim in. He wasn't dumb, he'd know the limit.

So he pulled a little more. And an outcropping of rock pushed into the side of his face. It didn't hurt, but he felt the tape pull on his feathers and his glasses slide off his beak.

"Ack-!"

His legs adopting an improvised squatting position, the talons on both his feet just managed to capture the glasses before they fell to the snowy landscape below. But the position he was in made it almost impossible to get them back to his hands. He needed more room. He pushed himself down a little, feeling the fissure widen up. And then he suddenly fell.

It was a surprise to be falling, but not a time for panic. He simply started flapping again, adjusting his tail feathers to steer himself from a straight plummet to an angled descent, one which slowed as he regained control of himself in the air. He was only a few feet above the trees when he stopped falling. He'd gotten closer before. No big deal.

He lowered to just above the ground, dropping his glasses in the snow before landing, before picking up and cleaning them. Even without them he saw his wings looked distinctly ruffled, no big surprise, and there were stains on his shirt. Yeah, no problem, even his glasses just needed a quick wipe. Putting them on, he scanned the distant roof, and just about made out the fissure, a short squiggly line south by south east of the stalactite cluster near the old Ruins doorway. It was probably too late in the day to have another climb, and he had to admit it's maybe just a bit risky for a young bird on his own. Maybe he could ask his Mom to take him to King Asgore, and then he'd tell him what he found out and they could see if that would let birds and other fliers reach the surface. He might even get a medal!

He started walking back into town, fantasies of standing among golden flowers and a King telling him how smart he was dancing in his head. An odd crunching noise kept getting in the way however. He soon realised someone else was walking nearby.

"Hello?"

The crunching stopped. Berdly looked around him, and saw a shoe poking out from a nearby tree. It quickly withdrew, but the damage was done.

"Whoever you are, I saw your shoe. Is that you, Undyne? Going to mock me for reading a book rather than beating up rocks again?"

After a few second, the shoe reappeared. So did its twin. The person wearing them was a stranger to Berdly. Shorter than himself, a lot of dark fur on their head, but otherwise bald. It was strange, he'd seen some monsters shaved for medical procedures, and the skin underneath was usually really pale. This skin was a weird rich pink colour on their face and hands. The rest of their body was covered by clothes, which looked rather tattered, like they'd climbed the whole way through that fissure. The shoes, however, looked not necessarily brand new, but well cared for. The odd fellow's appearance was capped with a brown hat and a belt with a pouch on one side.

"Hello!" said Berdly, drowning his uncertainty in confidence. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new to Snowdin?"

"...I guess."

"Oh, you speak! Good. What's your name?"

"Jimmy."

"Jimmy." Berdly rolled the name on his tongue. "You anything to Freezelupe in town? I think his cousin is called Jimmy."

Jimmy looked at his hands. "Probably not."

"I suppose not, not nealy hairy enough. Well my name is Berdly." He watched him tilt his head curiously. "Hey, where are you from?"

"...up above..."

"Above Hotland? Oh, you're from New Home, then. Hey, have you ever seen King Asgore?"

Jimmy stiffened at the name. "Can't say I have."

"Huh, weird. Everyone up there sees him. Well you can stick with me, Jimmy, and I'll show you around."

His posture relaxed a little, but he still appeared on edge. "Thanks, I guess. I'm just passing through anyway."

They started walking towards town, neither of them spotting the security camera which turned in their direction.

"So, you're not moving here? I can't blame you, this place is..." he waved a wing at the snowy trees. "Monochrome. When I grow up I'm gonna make something of myself. Maybe a scientist, or a Royal Councillor, or something like that. You're going home, then?"

"Yep. Need to get to my Mom."

"Oh, I know that feeling." Berdly rolled his eyes. "My Mother freaks if I'm five minutes late getting home. I mean it's not like things get any darker round here, right? But then she thinks I'm slacking off. As if I could! I'm always trying to better myself, or better the kingdom."

"You don't play?"

"Learning IS play, Jimmy. Nothing more exciting than discovering something new. The other week I was in the librarby, reading all their books on humans. I reckon only old Gerson might know more about humans than me."

Jimmy chuckled for the first time. "You think so?"

"Absolutely! I could spot a human at fifty yards. They don't have much fur, kinda like you, but they're way taller than either of us. And they normally dress in cloaks or ponchos, and carry spears. I hear they have other weapons, but they fought us with spears. I'll know when they come."

"You think they'll come down here?"

Berdly shrugged. "Who knows? I mean they forced us down here, right? Wouldn't be a stretch they decide to finish us off. Especially after the Prince."

"The Prince?"

Berdley stopped and looked at Jimmy's eyes. "You hit your head or something?"

"Not recently."

Berdly chuckled. "You're funny, Jimmy! If only other monsters could chill out. But yeah, the war. It's us or them, right? That's what everyone says."

"...that doesn't sound fair."

"Fair? Probably not. But what can kids like us do, make things right after all the fighting?"

"I'd do that. If I knew how. But right now I need to get back to Mom. I promised."

"Oh, a _promise_." Berdly shuddered. "Last time I broke one I made not to be late I got grounded for a week."

It was Jimmy's turn to shrug. "Shouldn't have broken the promise, then. Do right by your family, Berdly."

"Of course I do right by them! It's just sometimes, I have important things to do. And it's not like I'm ever far away, the Underground gets positively cramped once you've finished exploring it." To evade his lack of a thirst for what is right, Berdly looked at Jimmy's shoes again. But his waist caught his attention instead. "What's in that pouch, Jimmy, a phone?"

His hands covered it. "No, we couldn't afford one."

"Couldn't afford one?" Berdly snorted. "They're what, five gold a pop from GastStore? C'mon, let me see it, I won't laugh."

Jimmy frowned, conflicted about the request. But he relented, opening it up. Berdly's eyes widened at the flash of silver.

"That's not... I know what that is!" he whispered.

"You reckon you do?"

"Yeah, I read about it. That's an advanced human weapon!" He reached for the gun, but Jimmy stepped back. "Aw, come on, let me see!"

"It's not a toy," warned Jimmy, "you don't just take a gun off someone like that. It could shoot."

"I know what I'm doing, I've read all about them!"

"Really?" Jimmy clearly doubted him. But then held it out to Berdly, handle first. "First rule of guns: Never, **ever** , point it at something you aren't willing to destroy."

"Come on, I'm smarter than that," insisted Berdly, accepting the revolver. He turned it around in his wings. "Obviously you got this in the garbage at Waterfall. Weird that a human would throw away a weapon like this, but we've gotten stranger. Hmm..." He rubbed the barrel. "You must have got this out of the water quickly, it looks well polished. No rust or algae." Then he opened the cylinder and spinned it a few times. "There are only five boolits here. Was it like that when you got it?"

Jimmy rubbed his own arm. "...no."

"Ah, couldn't wait to try it out, could you? Do you have any more boolits?"

"No."

"Okay. I'll not waste them, we might really need them one day." He closed the cylinder, continuing to look at the gun from different angles. Then he suddenly pointed it at Jimmy. "Take that, human!"

_Slap!_

The gun fell into the snow. Berdly clutched his wing, a burning pain much more intense than such a slap should have been radiated in it, looking at Jimmy in disbelief. "What did you do that for?!"

"What did _you_ do _THAT_ for?!" yelled Jimmy. "What did I just say? You could have shot me!"

"No I couldn't, I had the safety on. It was just a joke!"

"Well it ain't funny! Safeties aren't foolproof. It's almost as bad as thinking they aren't loaded. You're lucky this has one, some don't." He bent over to pick it up.

"What, you think I'm not smart enough to handle something like this? Too dangerous for a kid like Berdly?"

"I'm thinking there is no justice in this world if you monsters get attacked by us, if you're just gonna stick your head in a lion's mouth." His anger faded a moment. "Maybe it wasn't fair we attacked you at all..."

"'You monsters'...?" Jimmy froze at the accusation, but Berdly was still more focused at the insult to his intelligence. The pain already fading, he snatched the gun back, and turned it around to fiddle with the handle. "Look, I'll prove I know what I'm doing, here's the safety-"

" _DON'T-_ "

**BANG!!!**

Berdly's ears were ringing with the noise. He thought he could hear the shot echo among the empty trees, but he wasn't sure. The top of his head felt unusually warm. After several moments he opened his eyes. He still had the gun, a stray feather caught in the trigger. Jimmy's skin now looked the pale colour of shaved fur, his mouth open. Something blue was near Berdly's feet. He looked down to see several singed feathers. Instinctively he felt the warm part of his head. Sure enough, the more pronounced part of his plumage had been shaved. As he felt it, the gun was once again snatched away from him. Jimmy roughly shoved it back into his pouch.

"I'm sorry," said Berdly, mechanically, "I didn't mean to-"

Jimmy's face was set, but tears were welling in his eyes. "You know your problem, Berdly? You don't know what you don't know."

"Are you okay?"

"No I'm not! It would have been my fault if you shot yourself! I mean, I already feel bad enough about that frog, but it attacked me and I was scared. It was before the goat lady explained. I don't wanna fight if I don't have to, but you're determined to get yourself killed and on my tally. Where's the justice in that?"

Berdly had a hard time processing what Jimmy had admitted to. "Look... Jimmy, if you're in trouble or something-"

Distant barks cut through the air. Jimmy looked up, alarmed. It was obvious what had gotten their attention. He shoved Berdly aside and ran into the woods, still heading towards town. All Berdly could do was watch him disappear among the trees, before automatically trying to pick up his feathers from the snow. It wasn't long before the barking stopped, and two or three cold wet noses were poking him. Then he was picked up.

"Here, Argie," said the dog holding him, "looks like he got away just in time!"

The heavy black armour of the Captain of the Royal Guard trundled into view. "Good girl, Rovie." The visor looked at Berdly's close shave. "You hurt, son?"

"...I don't think so. It was an accident, he didn't-"

Argie was already on his phone. "Hello, sir. Yes, scent confirms human presence. No casualties we know of, yet, but there's a near miss. A kid. I recommend you declare state of emergency immediately. Yes, sir. Sorry." He hung up. "Alright, young man, we're going to take you to our barracks."

"...am I in trouble?"

"No, of course not. We just want to check if you're okay. You'll be safe there. And we might have some questions for you."

Berdly let himself be carried towards the river, where an unseen boat lay waiting. He suspected he knew what questions they were going to ask him. Fifteen minutes ago his answers would have poured from him without a thought. Now there were no thoughts to form them. He didn't know. Or maybe he did. But they couldn't.

**Author's Note:**

> Original suggestion: Undertales go to the firing range
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
